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Bernie Sanders has fared significantly better in the polls since October but still trails Clinton by double digits in South Carolina. | Getty

Poll: Trump, Clinton up big in South Carolina

By ELIZA COLLINS

02/16/2016 04:52 PM EST

Reliable polling of South Carolina is hard to come by, but Donald Trump seems to have a comfortable lead in the state — double digits ahead of his nearest competitor.

According to a new CNN/ORC poll out Tuesday, Trump has the support of 38 percent of likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz well behind him with 22 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 14 percent and Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has 10 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has 6 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is at 4 percent.

Trump also led on all policy issues (economy, illegal immigration, foreign policy and the Islamic State) with the exception of social issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, where Cruz fares better.

Trump has dropped 2 percent from the same poll in October (38 percent) but there have been major shifts for some of the other candidates. Cruz has increased 17 percentage points since October, when he polled at just 5 percent. Rubio and Bush have also seen increases from their single-digit October numbers: 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively. And Kasich is up from just 1 percent in October.

Carson, who has faded nationally and fared badly in Iowa and New Hampshire, has seen his support collapse from 18 percent in the fall.

Many South Carolina voters are still up for grabs: Although 49 percent of those surveyed had definitely made their choice and 20 percent were leaning toward someone, 31 percent remained undecided.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (56 percent) has a double-digit lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (38 percent).

But his support from likely Democratic primary voters has grown since October. In the fall, Clinton had 49 percent, Sanders had 18 percent and Vice President Joe Biden (who was still considering a run at the time) had 24 percent.

There’s still room for persuasion with likely Democratic primary voters, 40 percent of whom are still trying to decide on a candidate. Forty-three percent had definitely decided and 16 percent were leaning toward someone.

The telephone polls of 1,006 South Carolina adults were conducted both before and after the GOP debate Saturday from Feb. 10 to 15. The sample of 404 likely GOP primary voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. The Democratic sample was relatively small — 280 likely Democratic voters — with a high margin of error 6 percent.